True superphones to arrive in 2012: ARM

4G/LTE will take handsets beyond smart

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Superphones will be arriving in 2012 as LTE and 4G begin to proliferate across the globe – according to ARM CEO Warren East.

East, talking as ARM announced its new Cortex A7 processor, linked the rise of modern smartphones to the rise of 3G and believes that the next level of mobile data will be the spark for more powerful mobile devices.

"Smartphones as we know them today emerged around the Cortex A8 processor and with 3G modems," said East.

"That meant a lot more data coming into the phones, so you could deliver a lot more content and services which in turn demanded more microprocessor compute power.

Beyond advanced smartphones

"Now we have very advanced smartphones with the cortex A9 processor which are capable of even higher levels of performance.

"As we look forward we can see the modem advancing to even higher bandwidth so more data coming in and out and more demand for compute power.

"That's when we will see processors like the Cortex a15… delivering the kinds of performance required for some of these high compute power services and high-end smartphones sometimes today referred to as superphones.

Olympic efforts

East believes that the first of these Cortex A15 devices will be emerging in 2012.

"We launched it about a year ago and over the year we have grown the number of ARM partners who have development underway with the new processor.

"We're expecting real Cortex A15 products next year – that's where we've got to with A15 deals for high end… superphones and in form factors like computers and tablets and even straying into the server space."